Arvin Union School District is preparing for the new school year with updated policies on cell phone use, gender-neutral bathrooms and suicide hotline information on student ID cards — several of which the district had already implemented before they became state law.
Students return to school next Thursday.
District Superintendent Georgia Rhett said the district has had a cell phone policy since 2019, but new regulations will strengthen enforcement.
"What we've decided for implementation of that is that it needs to be in a backpack, not a back pocket, not accessible, but that at the end of the school day, because a lot of people are using things like Live 360 or things to make sure that their students are safe that they would have time to pull it out, turn it back on, check any messages in case there were updates from parents," Rhett said.
Maria Molina, a parent with children in the district, said she supports the stronger cell phone rules and believes they will help students stay more focused in the classroom.
"It's something that is good the rules they're putting," Molina said.
Molina said her son is already in the habit of keeping his phone put away during the school day.
"When he knows he's going to school he doesn't use it. He leaves it in his backpack," Molina said.
Starting July 1, all California school campuses — except those with only one male and one female restroom — are required to provide at least one gender-neutral bathroom. Rhett said Arvin Union had already made those changes before the requirement became state law.
"We have gender-neutral bathrooms in the offices or the nurse's office of each of the campuses. And so students who wish not to enter one or the other or going through transitions have the opportunity to use wherever that restroom is, either in the office or the nurse's room, depending on the campus," Rhett said.
Rhett said the district has seen firsthand how the policy has helped students feel safe.
"We have a few students who do, who have chosen through conversations that they're more comfortable using a single stall restroom," Rhett said.
Suicide and crisis hotline numbers are now required to be printed on student ID cards across California. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 14.
Rhett said Arvin Union has been including suicide hotline information on student IDs for the past 10 years.
"And so the company that we contact with for our student IDs puts that on there, does it for all of our schools, and so we stay up to date each year with whatever the phone numbers or the hotlines are," Rhett said.
NEW LAWS
- Preventing child abuse
- Limiting cellphone use
- Requiring gender-neutral bathrooms
- Suicide hotline number on IDs
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